'Rock the Block' Star Jasmine Roth Actually Got Discovered on Instagram Before Landing Her Own HGTV Show

From House Beautiful

With Jasmine Roth’s breakout hit show, Hidden Potential, recently wrapping up Season 2, and the instant success of HGTV’s new limited TV series, A Very Brady Renovation—not to mention the premiere of Rock the Block—it’s safe to say that you’ll be seeing more and more of the California native on your small screen.

But even if you’ve watched all her shows and follow the designer on Instagram, there are facts you probably missed about the Built Custom Homes founder. Let’s bring you up to speed before you start binge-watching all of her exciting shows.

She Started Out As A Fitness Instructor.

Long before Jasmine got into building homes, she spent her days at a strip mall in rural Virginia as an instructor at Curves Fitness.

"These women would come in and they'd never been to a gym before, and I would teach them how to use the machines and measure their BMI," she told HGTV. "It was all about making them feel comfortable."

The future renovator started working at 15, and she's been holding down a job ever since.

Jasmine Met Her Husband, Brett Roth, In College.

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The Roths will be the first to admit their relationship started a bit "backwards." Brett and Jasmine started out as roommates at Northeastern University in Boston, where they both majored in entrepreneurship.

At first, they were friends, but by the end of the fall semester, they realized they had feelings for each other. The two soon started dating, and this September, the couple celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary—and 13 years overall together.

She Got Into Home Building Almost By Accident.

A few years after college, Jasmine and Brett decided to build their own home in Huntington Beach, CA. "Two years in, I realized we really knew nothing," she told House Beautiful. "I was spending all of my free time trying to get our house finished."

Jasmine took a leap of faith, quitting her job to focus on the house full-time—and it wound up being her passion. A huge part of her success—and the eventual creation of her company, Built Custom Homes—can be attributed in her willingness to learn new things.

"I had to humble myself to say, 'Look, I know nothing about this,' and show [the construction team I worked with that] I'm genuinely interested in what they do," she said. "At first, I think they were like, 'Why is this girl on this job site? And why does she not know anything?'"

She Was Discovered On Instagram.

Jasmine's used to chronicling her life on social media, so when it came to building homes, she took the same approach. She organized her projects with hashtags, like #tinymountainhome and #beachbuilds, which is how TV producers became familiar with her work.

"At first, I was just trying to share what I did and build a brand, and make it pretty, so people could do what I was doing," the 35-year-old said.

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When a production company reached out, Jasmine decided to go for it, filming a 2-minute video about herself and her work. At first, producers wanted to follow her beach builds exclusively, but after realizing how long they took to complete, they decided to pivot.

"It'd be the most boring TV," Jasmine admits. "'What do you do that doesn't take two years?' they asked me, so I told them about how I'd been working on my mother-in-law's cottage, this boring, brown-beige stucco cottage, and we made it into a custom house." From there, Hidden Potential was born.

Hidden Potential Is Filmed Right in Her Backyard.

With the show's concept set, the production team got right to work where Jasmine lives and works: Seasons 1 and 2 are filmed right in Huntington Beach, California. The HGTV star often includes artwork, decor, and custom furniture pieces from local craftsmen.

Jasmine Had Even Bigger Plans For Season 2.

After tackling 13 cookie cutter homes for Season 1 of Hidden Potential, Jasmine decided to kick things up a notch, filming 17 the second time around. But she's not sweating it. "Honestly, because the population is so great in Huntington Beach [where the show is filmed], I think 17 cookie-cutter houses is not going to be that hard to find," she said.

Just as the second season of Hidden Potential premiered, we caught up with Jasmine to get an exclusive look at one of the homes she designed for a family with California coastal style. The mom had suffered hearing loss, so Jasmine opened up the floor plan a bit and created a "fence bench" to make it easier for her to see her kids wherever they were—and make it easier to connect with neighbors.

“It’s easy for families to walk through and tell me what they don’t like, but naming what you do want your house to be is tricky. If they could define it, they’d probably just do it themselves,” she said of her creative process.

Jasmine's Always On The Go—Even On Vacation.

In her downtime, Jasmine's not one to lounge in her pajamas or on the beach all day, every day. Just after Season 2 of Hidden Potential was confirmed, she and Brett went to Argentina to go snowboarding, and previous vacations have included building homes in Romania with Habitat For Humanity and exploring Japan, Chile, and Switzerland.

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Oh, and when Jasmine's not filming her show or traveling the globe, she's also working on her "dream home"—a house just four blocks away from the first house she built. (You can follow that one by searching #RothHomestead.)

She Ditched Coffee After Starting Hidden Potential.

Most people would reach for caffeine after committing to filming a show on top of their day-to-day lives, but Jasmine took a different approach, giving up coffee completely. It wasn't a deliberate decision; she just got hooked on unsweetened black tea—specifically Tejava, she told Style Me Pretty, and she's been sipping it ever since. It's "my new favorite drink with a kick. Oh, and it literally has zero calories," she explained.

Jasmine Eats Pretty Clean Overall.

Brett maintains two Instagram accounts—his personal one, and one that's devoted to grilling and smoking meat, called @themeatatarian. Between that account and Jasmine's Instagram Stories posts, the two often share what they're cooking at home. But it's not all meat; most meals are pretty veggie-heavy too.

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Dinners at home tend to be paleo dishes, like bunless turkey burgers served with butter lettuce, avocado, caramelized onions, grilled green hatch chilis, and sautéed onions.

People Ask About Her Clothes Just As Much As Her Homes.

After getting flooded with DMs about outfits she's worn on her show and IRL, Jasmine started posting sources to her clothes on her Instagram Stories. She often rocks Paige or Citizens Of Humanity skinny jeans, Madewell tees, and Vans or ankle booties.

But if you want to know specifics, you can head over to her blog, where she has a whole section dedicated to her outfits, appropriately titled,"What Jazzy Wore."

Jasmine's Design Style Favors Function Over Trends.

While Jasmine's aware of what's trending, she doesn't let it dictate her approach to homes. "I'm definitely more of a functional designer," she told House Beautiful. "My focus is more, 'Does the house work for the family? What will they do with their stroller? Where will the toys go?'"

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Once she's figured out their needs, she can create a plan for the house, but that doesn't mean she keeps things serious. Some of her most popular projects have involved a whimsical twist, like a bar area hidden behind a bookcase, or a "dog cave" tucked under the stairs.

"Why not have your house be fun, playful and happy?" Jasmine asked. "If it works for the family, I'm going to do it."

She's Going Head to Head Against Three Other HGTV Designers in Rock the Block.

On October 21, HGTV's new competition series, Rock the Block, premiered and fans are already cheering for #TeamJasmine as she goes up against fellow HGTV stars: Good Bones' Mina Starsiak Hawk, Restored by the Fords' Leanne Ford, and Windy City Rehab's Alison Victoria.

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In the show, the four designers are each given identical houses, with the freedom to renovate and decorate them however they want. And with one week in, we can't wait to see how the California native makes her home stand out from the rest.

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